Kiss him, Liesel
by terra-jean
Summary: The kiss that could have been if she wasn't scared of loving him. Liesel and Rudy in his father's clothing shop. One-shot. Rated T but may end up changing it to M depending on what people request.
1. The kiss

Kiss him, Liesel, kiss him.

She brushed some of the lemon hairs away from his face. What happened next was a confusing mixture of limbs and curiosity.

Liesel Meminger's lips came down on Rudy Steiner's like an exhausted bird crashing into the sea.

They kissed, long and tender, on the wooden floor of a dark clothing shop. Rudy tasted the lips of his glorious next door neighbor and Liesel the lips of the teddy bear giver, the athlete, and her best friend.

For minutes their mouths moved together and I find myself wondering what kind of gratification humans get out this sort of thing. I suppose it feels like they are giving each other life, whilst the term "kiss of death" would be much closer to the truth. Liesel's happiness in this moment would later form a burden in her heart.

When they broke apart and Rudy inquired, "how about _another_ kiss, _Saumensch?_" Liesel could only laugh and clumsily peck him on the neck.

They lay there with the mannequins as if they were the only two in the room.

After a while, Rudy added, "I meant one down there," and nodded toward his trousers.

Liesel slapped him hard. "Stupid _Saukerl!_"

***UPDATE: I appreciate your reviews and follows! However my original intent with this story was merely to explore what would have happened if Liesel and Rudy had that moment and to relieve our frustrations of them never having actually kissed. I kept the story short because I didn't think they would have gone further. However, if you WANT me to continue writing more, please say so in the reviews and I will add on to the story in a second more unrealistic (yet juicer) chapter. ;)**


	2. Alt Ending part 1 - they went furthur

****I wasn't planning to write this, but it was one in the morning. I hope those of you who followed enjoy this. If you want me to write MORE and make them go uncomfortably further still, that's fine because I am surprisingly okay with writing fourteen-year-old smut. Just a reminder that this NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED between them. I can't tell if I'm a romantic or a sick fuck.**

When they broke apart and Rudy inquired, "how about _another_ kiss, _Saumensch?_" Liesel could only laugh and clumsily peck him on the neck.

"That's weak," Rudy laughed and hungrily pulled her closer.

Liesel described what happened next as a blizzard of warm hands, hands that electrified her with every touch like butterfly wings. She was no longer crouched over, instead spread along Rudy's long form. She ignored the nervous feelings balling tightly in her stomach as thoughts of Rudy's examination ran through her head.

Suddenly, she felt like performing one of her own.

Her hands ran across his chest, tracing his protruding lips and trailing downward to his navel. She heard him breathe a strangled sound that took the shape of the name "Liesel" followed by an expletive. She knew that she was moving too quickly. Like it or not, they were both operating on the same amount of experience – none.

"Let me catch my breath," Rudy gasped. Liesel took that as her cue to quickly roll off of him.

They lay there in silence for a moment. "Woah," Rudy whispered.

Liesel turned on her side and smiled at him. "You're not a bad kisser, Steiner."

Rudy laughed and replied, "How would _you _know?" Heck, how would _I _know? All I can say was that was even better than whooping your ass in soccer."

Liesel rolled her eyes. "So, you got your kiss. Next time you think you've beaten me in a race, what are you going to ask me for?"

Rudy playfully narrowed his eyes at her. Then he smirked. "I won't have to ask."

Before Liesel could come up with a snappy reply, Rudy's lips were on hers again, testing their boundaries. Liesel decided that the last position had worked for them both, and with that she pushed him over and climbed atop him once more.

The electricity buzzed through their bodies.

The hum that went through their veins was matched only by the sound of my thrumming heart in the distance.

They moved their lips rhythmically in duel harmonies of hormonal lust and overdue love. Rudy's quivering hand shook the braid out of Liesel's hair. Liesel undid several buttons of his suit with even more ungainliness. She clung to his collar as his kisses peppered her neck, her cheeks, her collarbone.

Rudy Steiner was gaining confidence.

Add this to the list of things he was exceptionally good at.

Rudy's hands travelled down Liesel's stomach to the corners of her shirt.

"Can I?" He whispered.

A wave of desperation was threatening to roll over her head like storm clouds. She nodded.

She knelt to let him clumsily pull the shirt up and over her head. Feeling self conscious, she hurriedly bent down into another kiss before Rudy could get a good look at her.

"Let me see," he was breathing around her lips, "let me see you." She shook her head into another kiss but he resisted. "You're beautiful, Liesel. Be nice and let me see you."

She paused but then slowly rose above him on her knees.

Rudy stole this precious sight to himself. It wasn't fair that she got to do all the stealing.

Her books.

His heart.

She was skinny and her bra barely covered a thing, and he loved every inch of her.

"That's what I like to see."

She tugged at his shirt. "I'd like to see this on the floor."

Rudy smirked and lifted her off of him. He stood in front of the lantern so she saw nothing but his silhouette. He was going to give her a good show.

Liesel laughed as he started moving his hips side to side, biting his lip, undoing his buttons one by one. He stepped out of the suit, revealing nothing but his dirty white t-shirt and boxers underneath.

He knelt beside her on the ground and let her give him a once-over. "Ah," she sighed, "I guess I can make do."

"Silly _saumensch_," he murmured, "you'll never find another body like this."

"Lucky me." She wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him on top of her for another kiss. This time their tongues met and became well acquainted.

Liesel felt his hand on her bare hip and goosebumps crawled across her skin. She couldn't resist running her hand up the back of his leg, feeling the strong runner's muscles there, and snaking it over to the top of his thigh. Rudy gasped.

"Ahh! You tease!"

She didn't thoroughly understand what he meant. Not yet. "What did I do?"

"To put it mildly, Liesel, your hand nearly touched my junk."

_His junk. Oh._ "Sorry?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I've got it under control."

Again, she didn't understand what he meant, or what the big deal was. She of course knew by this point what privates do during this kind of kissing since she could feel her own aching with need. Maybe it was worse for him. Maybe that was why there was hardness pressing against her leg. _Under control, my ass._

She knew how far she'd already gone with him.

It scared the hell out of her.

She wanted more.

She was going to attempt something dangerous. She was curious about this male side of him. She wanted him completely naked.

She ran her fingers under the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. He helped her remove it and toss it with the heap of their clothes.

She stared at his naked torso, no longer bothering to hide the need she felt for him. She craved every line, contour, and muscle in him.

He watched her for a bit before kissing the dazed expression off her face. "Hey. _Earth to_ _saumensch."_

She blinked and suddenly tears were forming in her eyes.

"Hey." Rudy whispered frightfully and started kissing the tears as if he were collecting them, putting them away so she'd never cry them again. "Are you scared?"

Liesel nodded. "I'm scared of what I want."

Rudy was pretty certain he knew what she meant. He let her collect herself for a moment, and then pulled her into an embrace. "What you want . . ."

She pulled her face away so they were eye to eye. "I love you, Jesse Owens."

Rudy smiled. "You know I love you, Book Thief."


	3. Chapter 3 - Emotional crap

If a passing stranger were to look closely in the window of Alex Steiner's clothing shop that Christmas Eve, they would find quite a sight. A pair of half naked fourteen year olds sat among a pile of dismembered manikins, illuminated by a single lantern.

They talked about sex.

Even the most intriguing humans can be just so predictable.

Rudy wasn't blabbering, surprisingly. For the first time in a long time he could not gain any confidence to put him at ease. Whereas he normally excelled, he had no experience in this field of life, nor could he pretend. He let Liesel do most of the talking.

The boy sat there in awe of the girl who, just yesterday, could have killed him just by kissing him, now revealing her awakening sexuality in more words than she would ever bother to toss at another boy. She discussed her feelings, her fears, her urges, and her wariness of ever coming so close to another soul.

What awed Rudy the most was how often his name appeared in each category.

The whole time she spoke, he watched her lips move.

Eventually Liesel put her hand on his, testing more of the romantic side of physicality. She was surprised that she would actually find it easier to just crawl on top of him again. What made the awkward strain worthwhile was Rudy's thumb stroking the side of her palm while she spoke.

Eventually their conversation ended in an embrace that carried on much longer than normal entanglements. Liesel could still feel currents of electricity pulsing through her veins. She was frightened of everything she'd told Rudy, and she watched her brain rapidly rewrite every future she'd ever imagined with him like a typewriter.

She lied down with her back to him to admire the bright blue expanse of sky that watched her just as intently. Rudy wrapped his arms around her stomach, ignoring the sky mutually. He pressed his nose into her hair and breathed her scent. Bad choice – she bathed in dirt far more often than expensive perfume.

Liesel stroked Rudy's arm with her hand.

After quite a pause, she whispered, "Rudy, I want you to talk to me."

"Why? I have nothing to say."

"That isn't like you and it worries me. Why won't you say anything?"

Rudy sighed. "Liesel . . . I couldn't tell you what's on my mind right now."

"Please, just say anything."

"Okay . . . how about I don't think I have control of the situation in my pants anymore."

Liesel had had enough. She pulled herself out of Rudy's grasp and rose to her feet. She proceeded to pull on her shirt, keeping her eyes away from Rudy when he stood to meet her. She started waving her hands around in front of her in a search for the exit.

"Liesel," Rudy snapped. "Liesel, wait." She'd already made some progress across the room. Rudy blindly shuffled after her and his foot caught on a manikin, sending him crashing to the ground. Liesel made her swift escape out the door while Rudy swam through the sea of plastic limbs on the floor. When he finally made through the swinging door and into the night, Liesel wasn't even in sight.

"_Shit_" He murmured. He broke into a shirtless frenzy, sprinting down street after street in the search of a blonde head. He skidded around sharp turns and zigzagged down empty sidewalks, hoping against hope that she'd taken their regular route home. He knew quite certainly that she wasn't stupid, but kept telling himself that maybe she wanted him to catch up to her. The annoying, practical part of his conscience assured that she definitely didn't want to be found by him, and he ignored it. When he saw his last empty street, he turned around. The pit of his stomach sunk to a new level.

How do I know his perspective this night?

Let me tell you this: there are a strange, vast amount of images that run through a man's head when he dies. Sometimes they sear through me, and I remember.

Rudy's presumptions had been right, although instead of stealing away to a mysterious hiding place like he kept imagining, Liesel had just taken a much longer route home. This gave her a lot of time to brood about the boy of the hour, and her mind was not a nice place to be.

_That stupid _saukerl, she thought as she trudged angrily around wide buildings and tall fencing alike. _I opened up to him, and all he could do was make a stupid penis joke? Typical male, that swine, that _arsloch_, he will never get to kiss me again . . ._

Her thoughts mercilessly swirled around and around until she was reduced to just muttering _saukerl _every few paces.

When she opened the door of her home, she encountered the closest facial expression to a troll she'd ever seen on a woman. She even could have made her pay to pass her concrete frame and the arm that snaked across the doorway. Liesel concluded in her mind that Rosa Hubermann would have made a fine living under a bridge.

"I see you finally found the goddamn house." Rosa sneered. She grabbed Liesel by the scruff of the neck. "Where in the hell have you been?!" She swung her around and steered her toward the kitchen. She called to the other room, "Hansi, our darling daughter's finally made it!"

She circled around the kitchen table and leaned forward on her elbows. "_Sit, _you filthy girl." Liesel slammed herself onto a chair with the force of about three thousand Newtons.

Rosa's eyes boiled with the hunger of an interrogator.

"Mrs. Steiner just came to talk to me. Did you know that your friend Rudy has been out all night too? Would you know anything about that?"

Liesel shook her head.

"Don't lie to me, _saumensch._ You were out with that boy doing god knows what, weren't you? And now I have to go explain to my neighbor that her son is missing because my teenage daughter decided she could slut around!"

Liesel opened her mouth but Rosa quickly pounced.

"Not another word out of you." _But I didn't say anything- _"Go to your room. You'll need some bed rest for the talking I'm going to give you tomorrow morning. I'll have you wishing for the spoons!"

Without objection, Liesel headed straight to her room. She was looking forward to this talk about as much as Hitler would've looked forward to his end-of-war fate.

She had quiet dreams that night, but an eerie quality came with the silence. Her ears rung with the deafening sound of nothing until it became the sound of an explosion.

_Boom._ With that sound, her brother hit the floor of the train station.

_Boom. _Max was pushed to the ground by a Nazi as starving Jews marched around them like ants.

_Boom._ The plane crashed into the field, fate sparing a pilot for his dying moments with the teddy-bear giver.

_Boom._ A bomb sent a teeth-chattering crash through the bomb shelter, spewing billowing clouds of smoke through the unfamiliar world outside.

The sound moved like clockwork in Liesel's ear cavities. _Boom._ Brother. _Boom. _Max. _Boom. _Plane.

Even when the sounds were enough to wake Liesel up, they persisted right outside of her window.

At first she was alarmed, but even in her sleepy state she could conclude that if it were bombs, they'd be louder and she'd be dead.

She groaned and stretched and opened the window to see what the commotion was. It was nothing but the blond _saukerl_ kicking a soccer ball against the side of her house with deathly precision. He caught her eye and mouthed, _come out._

She wished she could turn her anger into a ball of words and kick it right back in him. A dirty look would have to suffice.

She shut her window and pulled a pair of extra-large pajama pants on under her nightgown. She sneaked passed the sleeping Hans and snoring Rosa with minimal difficulty and slipped outside. She rushed across the lawn towards the boy she wanted so badly to kiss and hit at the same time. The damp grass under her bare feet reminded her of the texture of Max's hair.

She stopped six feet short of the boy who had made her last hour a hormonal disaster. She could see him already trying to suppress a smile at her appearance. She supposed she shouldn't have shown up to a serious conversation appearing as the first ever human model kite.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled as loudly as she could whisper. "You're going to wake my whole family up!"

Rudy sighed impatiently. "I know where your room is, Liesel." When he saw the expression on her face, he added, "Look. I've needed to talk to you since you left and I won't be able to sleep until I do. It's not good for us if we just ignore the fact at hand. I couldn't ring your doorbell, obviously, but a soccer champion always has a few tricks in his bag. Now can I please talk to you for real? Like I should have in my dad's store?"

"Okay," Liesel agreed.

"Can we go for a walk?"

She nodded and the departed for the dark, empty streets, and her oath to never kiss him again would soon have to be revoked.

****Thanks everyone for your reviews! They've been encouraging me to take the story further than I'd ever imagined. I know this might have been a disappointing chapter for those you just want the smut, but in order to get to the smut, we'll have to churn through some emotional crap first ;) It just wouldn't be realistic if these two just started banging around, so I'm going to need to develop them a little more before that happens. And just to clarify, I am NOT going into too much detail whenever that occurs. But I also need you skeptics to accept the fact that 1, many fourteen year olds DO have sex, 2, they love each other, and 3, there's a war going on and everyone's bound to get a little friskier in life/death situations. Other than that, ENJOY! :D**


	4. Chapter 4 - Three words

Three words. A letter. A kiss. And some splinters.

That is a transition from best friends to lovers in few books I have read.

But then again, I don't read many books.

Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe a relationship like Rudy and Liesel's isn't entirely outlandish. I suppose one just needs to search in places that only I visit.

Dirtier places are where fertile hearts and souls lay buried.

The dreaded walk was first. Their lips were stuck together the way mud clings to boots. A cold, colorless barrier of ice was between them that stuck to their tongues, silencing the urge to speak. The icy relic of their friendship could only be chiselled or destroyed.

They walked a tightrope of awkward silence to the farms that witnessed them as bread-givers. They followed one another until they found a resting place between the roots of a maple tree. The space allotted them just enough room that they didn't have to touch, and they couldn't, for their bodies drew apart like they were the same charge of magnet. They sat quietly for a long time.

Finally, Rudy made a dent. "So, we came here to talk." His voice cracked a little after the rare break.

Liesel studied the ground with intense focus. "And?"

"I only plan on saying three words." He stood on his feet and wandered a little from the spot.

"Why?" She hopped up and followed him. "What can you say with only three words?"

He stopped and turned. "I can say a lot with three words. I bet these three words will turn your world around."

She eyed him warily. "You're joking."

"No, I'm not. I'll prove it to you. Okay, here they are." Rudy cleared his throat to take a deep breath. Liesel seized a little in anticipation. Every time he took a breath to speak, though, he merely exhaled.

Liesel was growing impatient. "Spit it out!"

He gave her a little half smirk. "If you insist I do it this quickly."

He crouched down on the ground in racing form. _Oh no._

The words came.

"Ready, set, go!" He took off at full throttle.

Liesel still waited for her words.

She remained planted in the soil and watched the distant Rudy race a ghost. He even made it about a hundred meters when he realized she was far behind him. He stumbled to a halt and turned to see her waiting quietly.

He jogged back to her. "What's the matter, _saumensch? _Is it too past your bedtime to race?" The bravado in his walk and voice couldn't hide the pain in his eyes.

Liesel's three words came next. "Grow up, Rudy." A tear broke free from the glass that covered her eyes.

Panicked, he stumbled up to her and clasped his hands on her shoulders. "What do you mean? Don't cry, don't cry . . ."

She yanked herself out of his grip. "You can't expect to win everything just by running. I'm not a finish line."

"You're my prize."

A laugh burst from her lips. "You're corny. Am I supposed to swoon now?"

"No, you're not. I'm just being an idiot." He shook his head and shut his eyes as if to block out something painful. "Let me get my thoughts sorted out."

He looked genuinely distraught, so Liesel regarded her eyes to the skin of the tree they'd sat under. She found the bark calling for her attention, brown as the leather of a stolen book but wrinkled as the face of the Fuhrer's.

Three words.

"Liesel, I'm terrified."

They turned her world around, those three words.

She moved her gaze to his, softly this time. She watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a crumpled piece of parchment. "I actually wanted to give you this. I wrote down everything that I can't say out loud."

She slowly took the paper as if she were trespassing. She unfolded it carefully, and in its depths were paragraphs of Rudy's handwriting, scrawled with words scratched out and sentences ridden with ink blotches and insomnia. Her mouth moved around the first three words: _Liesel, I'm terrified._

"So, I'll be going now." Rudy hastily turned around.

"No." Liesel clamped her fist around his shoulder and dragged him back next to her. Wincing, he watched her eyes move across the paper while still keeping a firm hold on him.

"Okay, well." He extracted himself from her grasp. "If you're going to make me stay here, you'll have to read the letter to me."

She paused to look up at him. "Why?"

"Because I want to see where you are in the letter. And I think that somehow the words will make more sense if you say them."

She didn't know how that could be, but she began:

"Liesel, I'm terrified.

"I've loved you for so long, but it was kind of a kid love, you know? I'd look at you and all I'd want to do was build mud castles and race with you and climb mountains, if that sounds cheesy enough. I just wanted it to stay that way forever. Just two grown up children, you and I, for the rest of our days.

"Now we're getting older and I realize that it can't happen that way. I will soon have to get a job and a clip-on tie, and you'll have to find more books to steal somewhere else to make your library. I know our world isn't perfect, with Hitler and how we're so poor and starving we can almost see our insides, but when I fit you into that equation, it fits. I don't know how, but you somehow make that world perfect to me, and all I need is a perfect world with you. But the world isn't perfect.

"It couldn't last, Liesel. People change and one day you'll grow up and hate me for some reason, probably because of my stupid clip-on tie. Or maybe because inside, I won't be able to grow up with you. You'll want a man and I'll be a child. I don't think I can change. The stuff we did tonight was what I thought I wanted, but it scared me. If I'm to be with you, we'll have to change the essence of who we are. From everything you told me, you're already way ahead of me. And I can't grow up, yet. I'm not ready. But I still love you, Book Thief."

She breathed the last few syllables and looked up to his face, now much closer to hers. She was astonished. His eyes were heavily lidded and his hair tousled. His expression was serious. He looked kind of sexy. (Those are her words, not mine)

"See why I didn't want to say anything?" Rudy whispered. "The truth hurts. The truth is embarrassing."

The truth was a beautiful maxim laid hidden in a story. The truth was a sweet note that few singers could reach. She didn't dare tell him. "You think I didn't already know it? I know you better than you think, Rudy Steiner. Now, cut the ego crap and kiss me."

He looked surprised. "No, Liesel. I don't think I can give you what you want."

She smirked, refusing to play into his emotions. She wanted her old Rudy for the moment. "Why, because you're a kid on the inside?" She took an aggressive step towards him.

He withdrew. To his dismay, a playful smile crept onto his face. The game had begun. "Why yes, in fact I am."

She took another step and forced him further back. "Don't kids kiss their mothers?"

"Yeah."

Another step. "And their fathers?"

"Yeah."

Another step. "And their brothers and sisters?"

"Sometimes, if the family is open to-"

A large fifth step pinned him against the tree. His raised eyebrows and suppressed laughter were all the motivation she needed. "So," she whispered, her warm breath rippling onto his face, "why is it that they can't kiss girls they like?"

He pretended to be in thought for a moment.

The tension nearly killed them both.

"Ah, what the hell. Lay it on me, _saumensch._"

With that, she closed what little space was left between them and kissed him.

It was the best kiss of the night.


	5. Chapter 5 - Death's armpits

***Thank you for your patience! Sorry I haven't updated in a while; I am going through the tormenting process of graduating high school. I may have to wrap this story up soon anyways, because it's getting harder to write in Markus Zusak's style, narrating with death, about two fourteen-year-olds in love. I'm starting to slip into my writing style because, I don't know, it's getting kind of Twilight-y and now it's just crossed the line of THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THE BOOK. I did end up adding a little twist in this chapter, though, making it less about their romance and more about the situation at hand. PS(SPOILER): They only have about several months left in their relationship, so I'll be finishing this story soon. After Rudy dies, though, I will make a 2nd alternate ending where he doesn't die, skip to when they're 18, and then let them made some lemonade, if you know what I mean ;). Thanks to whoever suggested something like that for giving me the idea. Now, on with the story.**

Before I continue recounting some of the best months of Liesel's life, I must remind you that the last three months that saw to the end of that happiness were in the undertow, preparing to annihilate these events as if they had never occurred. I am not a cynic trying to ruin a fairy tale. This was Liesel's reality, and once you understand how the world ended for her in one day, you will understand why I paint the happier times with colors of sadness. Collecting the bodies on Himmel Street, the tall and small and lemon-haired alike and reading Liesel's words now do I know how cruelly the universe chose her cards and how I was merely the dealer. By connecting some strings of time, I am able to conclude some things:

1. The impulse Liesel felt to kiss Rudy was triggered by some subconscious recognition of his impending death.

2. This impulse fueled the sudden change in attitude towards people she knew deep down she would lose. Instead of casting them off, she clung to them tightly as if daring me to tear them apart.

3. I can cry.

Now I should bring you back to the first week of her and Rudy's relationship. I feel some dread now that I have spoiled the ending, knowing that if I hadn't you readers would have enjoyed this chapter of Liesel's life much more. I still think that by this point, we deserve some happiness.

I should mention that Rudy and Liesel, the morning after their relationship formed, announced it to the entire block of Himmel Street by kissing fiercely during a soccer game. Tommy Muller thought they were fighting at first.

I should also mention that they struck a deal during the walk home that fateful night. They agreed that they would get to go out with each other, uphold some physicality, and yet forget nothing of their childish friendship. They even shook on it.

Rudy's note to Liesel stayed crumpled in her pocket to remind her of the vulnerable side to him only she knew. She touched the lump in her pocket whenever she saw him boasting loudly to a group of friends or if she overheard him being praised by a teacher. She would smile to herself.

Of course, there was an expected awkwardness the first few days they were together. Not one of them mentioned the words "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" until Rudy pressed some mud to her face one day and proclaimed, "I now pronounced you Mrs. Owens," which earned him a hearty punch on the shoulder. Their main terms of endearment remained degrading pig names.

One particular day about two weeks into their relationship, the two were walking home from a failed attempt to steal some produce from a local farm. The failure was the farmer being alerted, peering out his window, and rummaging to find his glasses to get a better look. Thanks to the farmer's poor eyesight, Liesel and Rudy managed to escape over the fence unscathed. Begrudged, they walked back to their neighborhood, arguing about what may have triggered his reaction.

"I swear it was you!" Rudy exclaimed, pushing Liesel. "Remember when your foot snagged one of those branches? I nearly died from the sound!"

"He couldn't-"(Liesel moved to push him back, which he dodged) "-_possibly _have heard that, you Dummkopf. You didn't even hide yourself properly. Your big hairy head was sticking out of the bush and he probably thought it was a fire."

"You mean like _this_ hairy head?" He pulled on her braid. "There are not many things you lack, Liesel, but finesse is right up there on the list."

"What other things do I lack?"

"A soft temper."

Liesel successfully pushed him this time, so hard that he fell back into a nearby bush.

"Thanks for sparing me the explanation." He hastily brought himself to his feed and picked a pine needle out of his elbow. "You can show me exactly what I did wrong, if you'd like." He pointed back to the bush.

"This is a waste of time," Liesel said, shaking her head. However, she walked around the bush and wedged herself into it. She popped her head out and made a ridiculous face. "This is how exposed you were."

"No way." He lumbered over. "If I were going to exposed myself _that_ much, I would have done it after we had gotten the food, running away, and like this." He turned and pulled his pants and underwear down, exposing his rear end.

"Rudy!" She yelled in disgust. "You ass!" She hadn't even finished climbing out of the bush to scold him when her foot caught on a root, causing her to stumble to her knees.

Rudy stood over her and smirked. "I kind of like this position." Liesel was about to get much angrier when he knelt down, facing her. "I like it so I can do this." He kissed her gently on the lips, and she smiled into the kiss.

That was not long before she hooked her leg around him and slammed him to the ground.

"Ouch!"

"You deserved that."

He watched her crawl over him. "I won't argue."

Liesel bent down to kiss him, but he grabbed her arms and rolled over so he was on top. "I like this position better. It's perfect fighting stance." He pecked her on the cheek. "Perfect kissing stance, too." He kissed her on the other cheek, and then started catching her off guard by kissing her in different places. She dodged his lips for a while, giggling, until she couldn't take it and swept her face up to meet his.

Their chins bumped into each other, drawing an "ow" from Rudy that he practically swallowed when her mouth crushed his. She rolled him over and the intensity of their kissing engulfed them both.

"Liesel," Rudy whispered around her lips. She took that as a sound of pleasure and kept kissing him.

"Liesel," He said louder, "get off for a second."

"No."

"Don't make me do this." She kept kissing.

He let out a full-on belch into her face.

"Aaah!" She shrieked. She quickly pulled away and wiped her face frantically with her sleeve. "You disgusting _schwein_!"

"You made me." He shrugged. "Listen, I have an idea of how to make this evening really fun."

"What we were just doing wasn't good enough?" Liesel was still trying to fend off the invisible germs. "Whatever it is, don't make it end with a burp."

"I won't. Actually, the burp was accidental. That's why I needed you to get off. But I just thought of something."

"I'm listening. I'm never going to kiss you again, you know."

"I believe that. Anyways, I was just thinking of how I managed to burp just now without needing to eat it back in. My stomach did pretty well today, because guess who I ran into?"

"Who?"

"The Saint of all Good Fortunes, that's who. The milkman hadn't gotten around to collecting the money some people had left out on their window sills, so I kind of did it for him."

"You _didn't._"

"I did. Don't look at me like that. I'll go and milk a cow's teats right now if that makes you happy."

Liesel laughed. "I'll pass on that. So then what did you do?"

"I bought myself a pack of cigarettes. They make hunger go right away, you know."

"You bought cigarettes?" Liesel's memories brought her to the time she'd tried one and felt a thundercloud settling in around her lungs. The words she used to describe the smell were specifically "death's armpits." That would be true, I suppose, if I had armpits.

She didn't know that yet, of course, so she spoke what she claimed was true. "Cigarettes smell like death's armpits."

Rudy laughed. "Of course they do, but people still smoke them, so there must be something to them."

"I tried one once, it wasn't that great."

"Oh. You probably didn't do it right, then." Rudy dug out a cigarette and a lighter."I've had three today already."

"You're so cool," Liesel said sarcastically. "Let me try."

Rudy lit the cigarette and took a puff, staring at the sky. "Ah, that's the stuff."

"Let me try!" Liesel dove for it and her fingers clenched around it. Draped over Rudy's lap, she quickly took a puff and exhaled.

"That's my girl," Rudy marveled. He took the cigarette and brought her around so she was sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arm around her and took a puff, then brought it to Liesel's mouth. That's how they smoked for a while, and each time Rudy offered her the cigarette closer and closer to his face until she had to lean right up against him to get her lips around it.

They'd practically finished the cigarette and were on the verge of some serious making out when they saw a figure coming towards them in the distance.

"Shit."

"_Shit!_"

"Who could that be?"

They bounded up and scrambled to hide behind the bush. Liesel kept one eye peeled while Rudy stuck his entire blond head out, forcing her to shove it back down with her hand. When the stranger drew closer, Liesel could see that this was no figure of authority or some common pedestrian. This was a woman who was far too ragged and beaten down to be anything of the sort. She stumbled in a way like she was searching for paradise, but couldn't have moved faster even if it were right in front of her. It was like the way Max used to walk, and with these thoughts she turned to Rudy and mouthed, _It could be a Jew._

Rudy went through the motions of what she'd mouthed with his own lips until he had a basic understanding of what she'd said. "A Jew . . . A _Jew?"_ The last two words he said with such volume that the woman stopped in her tracks and turned toward the bush. Liesel rolled her eyes at him.

If it really was a Jew, they were about to find out.

Rudy, realizing his mistake, rose to his feet to take a good look at the woman. She had the eyes of a puppy and the hair of a stray. Her body was malnourished and stiff with anxiety and fear. She looked to be middle-aged. "Hey," he said gently.

Liesel rose as well.

There were alarms in the woman's eyes as she looked them over. They were just children, but they were still blond Germans with the smell of Nazi uniforms on their skin. She looked up at them with a look of pure anguish, and her voice shook. "Please don't report me. Have mercy. Please."

Liesel took a cautious step towards her. "Want to know a secret?" She murmured, "We _hate_ the fuhrer."

The woman's eyes were locked on hers, taking her gentle voice in like a spoonful of syrup.

"I have a bigger secret," she continued, "I hid one of you in my basement. He was my friend. We fed him food from our kitchen and I used to read with him every night. I even emptied out his pee a few times."

The woman looked absolutely astounded. "Really?"

Liesel nodded.

"I have heard of families like yours, sacrificing themselves to let one of our people into their homes; standing up to Hitler himself. The risk you took is unbelievable. Unfortunately I couldn't find people like you for my children. I would have fallen to my knees and kissed your feet if the boy you had looked after was my son." She hung her head. "I feel like a dirty animal. I shouldn't even be talking to you."

Rudy stroked her arm reassuringly. "You're no wild animal to us."

The woman looked back up to them with a look of shame on her face. There is a cycle of emotions for the hunted and abolished: fear, suffering, and guilt. "You are both so kind . . . If I could just bother you for something to eat? I am so hungry."

Rudy shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't have any food. But I have these." He pulled out his pack of cigarettes. "They won't feed you, but they'll take the edge off and make you feel full for a little while."

"Yes, I know. I used to be a smoker." She took a cigarette and lit it.

The two German children shared the cigarette with the Jew, listening to stories about the woman's life. Liesel learned that the woman had been on the run for a few days now, and was completely alone. She once lived separated from her husband, whom bore custody of her two children. The last time she had encountered them was two weeks ago, when they were spending their weekly visit at her house playing cards. Too soon, her husband knocked on the door, grabbed the children, and left without a proper goodbye. She watched them pull out of the driveway, and that was the last time she heard from any of them.

A week later, the Nazis raided her neighborhood, forcing her to hide in a bale of hay stored in her basement. They miraculously skimmed over her, but burned her house down in the process. She hurried out of the back entrance and climbed down the sewer near her backyard where she hid in the cold, dark dampness for several days. Her hunger forced her out, and she was now wandering the streets searching for anything to quench it.

When the cigarette was done, she was saying goodbye when Rudy forced the pack and the lighter on her. "Please, take these. I don't think I'm going to smoke anymore anyways. These smokes smell like death's armpits."

Liesel's brow furrowed at the thievery of her joke.

The woman laughed and replied, "I _feel _like death's armpits, friend. Thank you so much for your kindness." She looked at Liesel. "And thank you, dear, for your kindness to my people. We need it now more than ever, when people are the most eager to let us burn."

Liesel smiled. "You're welcome. By the way, 'death's armpits' was my joke."

"Oh, I believe it." The woman winked. "I should be going. I'm not going to ask you for your address, but I do request a little street knowledge. What's up ahead?"

"Just some farms," Rudy chirped. "You should find some apples there if you're quiet. We didn't pass anyone on the road the last few miles here."

The woman smiled graciously. "Best directions I could hope for. Thank you for what you have done, children. God bless."

"See you!"

"God bless."

Liesel and Rudy watched the woman disappear down the road to never see her again, ignorant of her fate and how Rudy couldn't have predicted the Nazi officer patrolling a few miles down the road. I remember cradling this woman's weary soul at a concentration camp. Her spirit bore the chains that she had born that night as she journeyed to her fate.

They were the best directions she could have hoped for.

Liesel and Rudy watched her disappear down the road, hoping they would find some missing apples on the way home.


End file.
